Have you noticed how many more single dads there are now? It used to be that single dads were a rarity and usually were the result of the death of a spouse. Not anymore. More and more women are choosing to allow their children to live with their fathers.
It’s still pretty taboo. When people meet a single father they instantly assume the mother of those children is worthless, after all, what kind of woman walks away from her children?
Men and women walk away every day, and have been for years but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Maybe the father is in a better financial position to have the children live with him. Maybe the mother is working and going to school full time and it doesn’t make sense to have the kids with her.
Maybe this mother has chosen the best option for her children. Why is it that we expect mothers to be martyrs and saints? Why should a mother keep her children with her if it means they are with a babysitter more than they are with her while she works and goes to school? If this would not be the case at their father’s house, why shouldn’t they live with their father?
As women we are so hard on other women. We expect them to do the right thing, keep their children with them, and they we whisper about how little time they spend with them.
A woman should choose what is best for her children, not what is best for her. As Hailey’s mother I don’t know if I could have been unselfish enough to allow her to live with her father, even if he had been better able to provide for her.
Next time you see a single dad and start judging the mom, think again, maybe she loved her kids enough to do what was right for them.